Is a woman a slut because she takes birth control pills? Rush Limbaugh thinks so. This view might not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed Limbaugh and his flock of “ditto-heads” — those who over the last 30 years or so have cheered him and his rants against “feminazis.”

Limbaugh aimed his nasty barb at Sandra Fluke, the law student who was denied permission to speak at last month’s House hearing on the contraception rule in the health care law. That led to the famous picture of a row of clergymen, who see the rule as an intrusion on religious freedom, testifying. But no women.

Fluke finally had her chance to testify at another hearing sponsored by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and said that without insurance, contraception can cost as much as $3,000. That enraged Limbaugh, who launched into a tirade:

“Three thousand dollars for birth control in three years? That’s a thousand dollars a year of sex — and, she wants us to pay for it. … They’re admitting before congressional committee that they’re having so much sex they can’t afford the birth control pills!”

“What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We’re the pimps.”

Limbaugh tried to backpedal, but not really. Perhaps not a slut, but Fluke is a “round-heeled” woman, he said, using an antiquated term for slut.

Unlike Limbaugh, Fluke kept her cool. “We are fortunate to live in a democracy where everyone is entitled to their own opinions regarding legitimate policy differences,” she said. But the conservative commentator went beyond the pale, she added.

“This language is an attack on all women, and has been used throughout history to silence our voices. The millions of American women who have and will continue to speak out in support of women’s health care and access to contraception prove that we will not be silenced.”

Limbaugh now is ridiculing reaction to his remarks as “a conniption fit.” But compare the Fluke and Limbaugh statements. The only derangement one can hear is coming from the gentleman at the microphone.